


Treasure

by bookworm116



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-20 15:31:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18527917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm116/pseuds/bookworm116
Summary: Moomin finds a treasure map, and so the gang sets out on an adventure.Or, alternatively, Snufkin is bad at feelings. Take your pick.





	1. Lost

Snufkin sat on the bank of the river and watched his friend dunk his head into the water and out again. He wasn't sure what Moomin was looking for, but the troll seemed determined, whatever it was. Snufkin leaned back against the grass and watched the clouds go by. This was the type of thing that he missed when he was gone. He couldn't believe he'd been coming to Moomin Valley for years now, every spring. He was becoming dependable. He couldn't have that. he was a traveler, an explorer, not to be tied down. 

Moomin came up for air and dried his face off with his tail. He looked over at Snufkin, grinned, and put his face right back into the water. Snufkin really didn't see the point of even drying in the first place. He had to smile, though. It was just the sort of thing Moomin always did. Caring about little things that wouldn't matter to anyone else, and might not even have a point. The small things that nobody noticed because they were too wrapped up in their own world. Moomin would see them and he would cherish them. Moomin  _cared._ Moomin cared about  _him,_ the vagabond who tried not to care too much about anything. 

The grass was light underneath him and there were birds chirping. It was a nice spot, Moomin Valley, but it wasn't why he returned. He was sure that he could find other nice spots. 

"Got it!" Moomin cried, falling back onto the grass with great energy. 

"What do you have?" Snufkin asked, curious, propping himself up onto his elbows.

The Moomin handed the object to him, and Snufkin looked it over. It was a small wooden box, able to fit in one hand, embellished with golden trimmings. There was a large keyhole in the center. 

"Is this a treasure chest?" He asked jokingly. 

Moomin stared at him in awe. 

"It must be! Oh, Snufkin, I wish we had a key!"

"Perhaps we can open it some other way."

Moomin thought for a moment and then jumped to his feet. "Yes, I'm sure mamma or pappa can think of some way! Let's go, Snufkin!" And he turned and ran towards the Moomin house. Snufkin ran after him. 

* * *

 

"Well, it seems to be very tightly locked into place," Moominmamma examined the box again. "I don't think I can get it open."

Little My came striding into the kitchen.

"What have you got there, Moomin?" She asked in her petulant tone.

"Nothing!" Moomin yelped, putting the box behind him.

"Doesn't look like nothing. Moominmamma, what is he hiding?"

"It's mine, I found it, little My!"

Little My ran around him, trying to get a glimpse of the box.

"It's a chest! That's no secret, dummy!" "I found it, and now Snufkin and I are trying to get it open!"

Little My stopped running and glared at him.

"You're not going to get it open without a key, stupid."

Moomin scowled. It was an expression Snufkin didn't see as often as some of his others. Moomin was quite happy most of the time. Snufkin loved his smile. It was light and easy and looked like he didn't have have a worry in the world. 

Little My rolled her eyes impatiently.

"I found a key washed up on the beach about a week ago. But maybe you aren't interested in that,  _Moomin._ " She started to walk away, and Moomin took the bait.

"Alright, alright, we'll let you help too."

Little My gave one of her evil grins and ran off, presumably to get the key. She returned soon after, brandishing a large golden key that was half as big as her. Moomin took it and the chest opened.

"There you are!" Little my spoke. 

Inside the box was a piece of paper. Moomin took it out and unrolled it.

"It's a map!" He exclaimed. 

* * *

 

Snufkin's boots made light indentations on the dirt path as he walked behind Moomin, little My, Snorkmaiden, and Sniff, who had all joined them in order to look for treasure. The map had indicated some kind of larger chest somewhere in Moomin Valley. Moomin took the front, ever the leader of their small gang. Snorkmaiden beside him, of course.  _Of course._ Sniff and little my, in some kind of argument. And snufkin trailing behind all of them, watching the wildlife, the flowers, the pebbles, and maybe, occasionally, Moomin. It was hard not to watch him. He lit up when he was excited, and a treasure map was quite an exciting thing. Snufkin watched Moomin Valley disappear behind them as they headed deeper into the forest. 

They walked for a long while. Little my rode on different shoulders as the day progressed, for she was too small to keep pace with the others for hours on end. Sniff moaned about how he wanted a ride, too. Snufkin didn't mind it, after all, he walked all the time. He walked miles some days. Snorkmaiden picked flowers and made a crown for everyone as they walked. She lingered on Moomin's when she put it on his head and they giggled at each other. Snufkin looked at the ground and made his tracks harder in the dirt. 

They came to the first landmark on the map, a huge rock sticking up out of the ground. 

Moomin wanted to climb it with Snufkin, and any envious feelings vanished when Moomin grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the rock eagerly. Snorkmaiden stayed on the ground, waving at the boys as they climbed. Moomin grinned at Snufkin when they finally reached the top. Everything in Snufkin might as well have leapt off the rock.

The sun hung low in the sky when they noticed it was getting dark. 

"Uh... guys?" Sniff asked anxiously. "Do we know the way back?"

Moomin nodded, turning in a slow circle.

"Of course, it's..."

In hindsight, they should have planned for getting back. To add to the discomfort, it started to rain. 

"We should find some shelter," Snufkin said worriedly. "It looks like a bad storm." 

They ran towards a nearby cave. 

Lightning flashed behind them just as they made it inside.

"Oh, dear. Mamma and Pappa will be worried sick," Moomin fretted.

"Snork, too," Snorkmaiden added.

Snufkin didn't have anyone that would be worried about him immediately. His anyone was right here, next to him, a ball of rained-on Moomin fluff. 

"The only thing we can do is wait 'til morning," Snufkin said. Moomin took his hand absentmindedly. Snufkin wondered if Moomin realized what he was doing, and why he wasn't comforting Snorkmaiden. Snufkin certainly wasn't going to remind him, though. 

 And so they waited.


	2. Separated

The next morning, Snufkin was the first one up. He walked out of the cave to greet the sunrise and climbed up the mountain to maybe get a better view, try and see where Moomin valley was.

All he could see were trees, so he stopped looking and instead listened to the sounds of the forest. The birds were singing their first notes of the day, sweetly through the forest. Snufkin's thoughts drifted to Moomin, as they always did in the early morning when he was thinking of music. Moomin, sitting and listening to him play his own music. Moomin, watching out for the smallest of creatures and ghosts. Moomin, trying to figure out the loneliest of beings. Moomin, watching him, trying to figure out Snufkin. Moomin, smiling brightly, Moomin, w-

"Snufkin?"

_Moomin, sitting right beside him. How did **that** happen?_

Broken from his thoughts, Snufkin turned. He really hoped Moomin didn't take notice of his face, for he was sure it was a shade pinker than usual.

"It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?"  _Thank the hattifatteners._

"Yes, I suppose it is." 

"We'd better hurry if we want to reach the end of this treasure map and then head back before dark," Moomin said.

"You still want to find the treasure?" 

"Well, yes. We've come all this way. It would be a shame to stop now."

"But your parents- they'll be worried, won't they?"

"I told them we were going treasure hunting, and besides, we're traveling with you. You wouldn't let anything bad happen to us."

"I- what do you mean?"  _Of course he would never let something preventable happen to Moomintroll. But was he really that seethrough?_

"I just meant that you're more experienced at traveling." 

Moomin pulled the map out and studied it. 

"If we go now, we can make it there and back, right?" He leaned in closer so that Snufkin could see the map.

"Probably," Snufkin managed.

Moomin, still inches from him, turned and smiled. 

"Snufkin... would y-"

A shout sounded from inside the cave. 

The others were up. 

Snufkin masked his disappointment at the ruined moment, stood up, and headed down the cliff face.

Sniff was running out of the cave, little My hot on his heels. 

"Please stop it, you two!" Snorkmaiden called. And then, after a second; "Oh! Moomin! There you are!"

"Good morning, Snorkmaiden!" He said. "Are you ready to search for treasure?"

Snorkmaiden's face fell.

"We're still doing that? I thought we'd be going home, Moomin. I'm tired, and we slept on a cave floor all night."

Moomin shrugged.

"We've already come this far. It would be a pity to stop now."

"Well, I'm cold, Moomin. I'd like you to take me home."

Snufkin watched them. Moomin looked a little bit irritated. 

"You can go home. I want to keep going."

"Moomin! I don't know the way!"

"Maybe Sniff can take you home, then. Snufkin and I can continue on, alone." 

_What a fantastic idea._

Sniff stopped running for a moment to yell, "No way! I don't want to go home, I wanna see the treasure! I get half of whatever it is!"

Moomin glared at him.

"Why should you get half? You haven't helped at all! If anything, me, little my, and snufkin should get it!"

Snufkin put his hands up.

"Now, wait a minute. I don't want any treasure."

"Well then why are you even here?" Snorkmaiden burst.

"Because he knows how to travel properly!" Moomin yelled back. "And because he's our friend, obviously!"

 Snorkmaiden huffed and turned to Snufkin.

"Tell him he's being foolish! Tell him we need to go home now!"

Snufkin backed away from her.

"Hold on, Snorkmaiden, I..."

"So you  **agree** with him?" She screeched. 

Snufkin backed up so far that he tripped, almost falling off the rock edge they were on outside the cave. 

Moomin was at his side almost immediately, helping him up.

"What did you do that for?" He scowled at snorkmaiden. "He wasn't doing anything to you!"

"And I didn't do anything to him! He fell over by himself!"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because Moomin stomped past her and down into the woods.

"And you'll go home by yourself!" He shouted.

Snorkmaiden yelled back: "Fine!"

She took off in the opposite direction. 

Little My and Sniff stared at Snufkin as if they were expecting him to know what to do.

"Er- you two- go get Snorkmaiden, try to talk to her. I'll get Moomin."

"No way!" Sniff said angrily. "You'll just take the treasure for yourselves!"

"Just go! I don't care about any treasure!"

* * *

"Moomin! Moomin, wait!"

Moomin did not stop but kept walking further away from him, and Snufkin had to run to keep him in sight. Moomin could walk right through the bushes, Snufkin had to push around them.

"Moomin, please! It's just me!"

 He hated this. Snufkin was not one to chase. He wanted to stop right there and wait for Moomin to calm down, but there was no guarantee that the troll wouldn't keep walking. 

" _Moomin_!" 

 The troll came to a sudden stop. Snufkin ran right into him. 

"I'm only stopping because there's a cliff," Moomin explained. "It's on the map."

Indeed it was. 

"But... Moomin... isn't this kind of a silly way to lose a friendship? You've known Snorkmaiden for so long, and the treasure isn't going anywhere. If there even is a treasure." He put a hesitant hand on his friend's shoulder.

Moomin stood there for a quiet minute before he pulled away and continued walking.

"Snorkmaiden always wants me to do what  _she_ wants! I want to do what  _I_ what."

"Now, you know that isn't true. You and Snorkmaiden... are..."  _perfect for each other? he couldn't bring himself to even say that. good friends?_

* * *

"Snorkmaiden, c'mon, you and Moomin are friends! Plus, Snufkin's talking to him! He always listens to Snufkin!"

"He can listen all he wants! I'm leaving!"

Little My stood in her path.

"He'll come back and apologize, I'm sure of it."

"Or he and Snufkin will go looking for treasure without us."

"What?!" Sniff cried.

"They're always going off on their own. Why not?"

My put her hands on her hips.

"This isn't really about treasure, or sleeping in a cave, is it?"

Snorkmaiden pouted.  "That's part of it."

"What do you mean?" Sniff asked puzzledly. "What else could it possibly be about?"

Both girls stared exasperatedly at him. 

"It's about Moomin paying too much attention to Snufkin, like he always does." Little My said.

"Well, yeah." Sniff said. "They're best friends."

"Are they?" Snorkmaiden asked. "Because it seems like Snufkin's more his girlfriend than I am, sometimes."

Sniff burst out laughing. 

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Moomin and  _Snufkin_?"

"You both are doing a terrible job at cheering me up! You're supposed to help me get back Moomin, and get him to take me home!"

Little My glared at her.

"We're not on anyone's side. We're just trying to get you two to make up, or whatever." She paced. "Look, we'll go and see Moomin now. I'm sure Snufkin's talked some sense into that thick head of his."

* * *

 Snufkin actually could not get Moomin to change his mind. He had no idea what to do. The troll was almost always flexible about these sort of things, and he'd think that Snorkmaiden angry would be reason enough to abandon the quest for now. He had at least gotten Moomin to stop, though. They were on the third landmark, a waterfall, and at any other time, Snufkin would be taking delight in it, for it made such wonderful sounds and there were all kinds of forest animals stopping to drink out of the river below. But now he was just stressed, trying to talk Moomin out of something he himself wanted to let him do.

 Moomin kicked a rock angrily and watched it fall into the water. They both stared as it went over the edge of the falls below them. 

"You'd like to keep going... right, Snufkin?"

Snufkin picked up a rock himself and tossed it, gentler than Moomin's. 

"Well, I guess I'll do whichever. It doesn't particularly matter to me."

Moomin huffed and turned his back to Snufkin.

"So this whole thing was pointless just because Snorkmaiden wants to go home."

"We can always come back," Snufkin offered. 

 "I want to go now," Moomin whined. "I don't want to wait."

"Waiting is important," Snufkin said, very seriously. "Waiting makes you realize things you hadn't before. If you rush into everything nothing will ever make any sense."

_Waiting for the spring, waiting for moments alone, waiting for the call of the forest, waiting for nature to kick in. Waiting for the feelings to go away. Waiting, wishing, hoping that the feelings that only get stronger with each passing year start to fade away. Waiting for a time when you can genuinely call Moomin a 'good friend' and not feel dishonest in some way, because he's so much more than that._

_Waiting for it all to pass, because what good will it do anyway? You can't do anything with attachments. You have to be free to live your life._

"Let's go, please, Snufkin? Let's go right now and not tell the others, just the two of us."

He would have. He would have gone and he berated himself for it because if it hadn't been for the shout of Little My from up the path, he would have given in to Moomin. 

"Hey! You two! Have you come to your senses yet, Moomin?"

Moomin sighed. 

Snufkin hated to see him so unhappy, but Moomin would be more unhappy if Snorkmaiden held a grudge. He knew how much Moomin admired the Snorkmaiden, and as much as he felt his insides twisting around whenever they were together... ultimately, he wanted Moomin to be happy, and his feelings didn't matter as much. Because he left Moomin every year and Moomin needed someone who was there for him, and Snufkin couldn't promise that. 

He tore his eyes off Moomin to find little My walking down towards them. 

When he looked back at Moomin, it seemed that in a split second the troll made up his mind. He grabbed one of Snufkin's hands and pulled him across the river, landing on the other side and breaking into a run. 

"M-Moomin! What are you  _doing_?!" Snufkin cried. 

"I'm finding treasure!" Moomin called. His grip never wavered.

Snufkin held onto his hat and found himself running with Moomin. 

He could hear little My screaming behind them to 'wait up', but Moomin was  _holding his hand_ and laughing gleefully and running into the unknown. 

* * *

Little My came screeching to a halt in front of them. 

"They... ran... off... tried to..." she wheezed, trying to get her energy back. Snorkmaiden was surprised she hadn't just run after them instead of coming back to tell herself and Sniff.

"We gotta go find them! They're gonna get all the treasure!" Sniff yelped.

"Is treasure all you think about?" Snorkmaiden yelled. "Moomin hasn't changed his mind! I'm going home!"

"We should give them a taste of their own medicine," Little My mused.

"How?" Snorkmaiden said crossly. "All they care about is each other!"

"We ambush them." Little My grinned. "We get there first and we jump out and scare them!"

"And we get the treasure first!" Sniff added. 

"Please stop," Snorkmaiden said. "That's a bad plan."

Little My folded her arms. "Okay, well, we get there first and we do  _something_ to them. Get them back somehow. I know of some great poisonous mushrooms around here-"

"You've been here before?" Snorkmaiden asked. 

Little My looked around. "Well, yeah. We're not that far from Moomin Valley."

"So you know the way back."

"Yes, but-" "Take me!"

"We are still 3 or 4 hours away. I'd rather prank Moomin and Snufkin before we go back."

"Little My!"

"If you knew the way back this whole time, why did you let us think we were lost?" Sniff asked reproachfully. 

Little My just grinned and then disappeared into the underbrush. 

"Follow me!" 

"Are we going home?"

"Will you shut up about home for one second? I don't want to hear the words 'home' or 'treasure' from either of you!" Little My called. 

* * *

They'd stopped running a while ago.

So Snufkin wasn't exactly sure why they were still holding hands. 

It wasn't needed. Neither one of them was guiding the other, they were walking side by side. 

Snufkin was not going to ask Moomin. 

_He could wait until Moomin noticed._

Moomin stared at the map as if it were going to turn into something else if he looked away for even a second. 

They were silent except for the occasional "this way" and "watch out for that root".

Silence was good. With silence, Snufkin could pretend he was anywhere else. With silence, Snufkin could properly gather himself together, except for the fact that Moomin was  _still holding his hand._

He wasn't going to ask. He wasn't going to mention it.

They came to the final landmark before the big "X marks the spot" on the map.

A huge tree that stood in the middle of their path. 

Snufkin walked up to it and admired it. 

It was really a very nice tree. It was the kind people always wanted in their backyard, to climb on and run around and see everything from the top.

He realized that Moomin was staring at him, and, embarrassed, he stepped back. 

"We're almost there," said Moomin.

Snufkin looked at the tree, trying to put a memory into his head to keep for always. As if the tree would be the thing he looked back on today. As if he wouldn't be up for nights thinking about a certain Moomintroll, no, he would be thinking about this neat tree they saw. As if he could stand one more second of Moomin being this close to him. 

They came up to the end of the path. 

_Waiting._

_Waiting for Moomin to run ahead, waiting for Moomin to take his hand again, please just do something. Waiting for Moomin. Wanting for Moomin._

He could wait a while longer.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know, actually


End file.
